Mikel Merino warming up, and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta (Photo by Justin Setterfield, Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has explained why he picked Mikel Merino over Declan Rice to start in midfield against Nottingham Forest today.
The Gunners won 3-0 with an impressive performance at the Emirates Stadium, but some fans will certainly have been surprised that Rice didn’t make Arteta’s starting XI.
In the end it didn’t matter too much, with Rice later coming on as a substitute, and Arteta played down the significance of the decision when he spoke after the game.
As quoted by Arsenal.com, Arteta suggested that he was keen to give Merino a chance to start after the way he performed with the Spanish national team during the international break.
But as well as that, it also just sounded like normal rotation, with Rice perhaps set to start the team’s next game.
Mikel Arteta on benching Declan Rice for Arsenal
“Mikel (Merino) comes back after scoring four goals in two games with a really high emotional state and I want to use that when a player is in that moment,” the Spanish tactician said.
“I want to play him because he’s going to bring something different with the qualities that they have and Declan (Rice) comes in and it will have an impact immediately or he’ll play the next game. That’s what we need to try to manage the best possible way.”
Rice has been a star performer for Arsenal since his big move from West Ham a couple of years ago, so it seems unlikely that he’s going to drop down the pecking order any time soon.
The England international will need the occasional rest this season, with AFC already finding that they’ve had a few injury problems.
They certainly won’t want a repeat of last season when key names like Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Magalhaes missed a lot of games.
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